Real World Gardener is produced in the studios of 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney, N.S.W. and heard across Australia on the Community Radio Network. A gardening show with up to date, informative topics about sustainable gardening, plants, wildlife and the environment.
RWG's team of experts with Marianne Cannon, host, and educator JOIN US ON FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/RealWorldGardener

Did you know that their screeching
is meant to traverse long distances through tropical and subtropical forest
environments?

They also make loud and incessant
grating calls during the evening when they return home to their nests.

Sulphur-crested Cockatoos mainly
feed on seeds of grasses, grains, herbs, wild melons, fruits and vegetables.
They also eat flowers, nectar, nuts, cereals, oilseed crops, grapes, berries,
orchards, leaf buds, rhizomes, bulbous roots. These cockatoos even prefer to
eat certain insects like skinks and crickets as well as small larvae. No white
bread in that diet that’s for sure.

If you have any questions about Sulphur
Crested Cockatoos, or have an anecdote about their behaviour, even some photos,
drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville
NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

This weeks Vegetable Hero is Mangel Wurzel

Folk band or vegetable?

Vegetable of course but there is a band in England called the Wurzels.

Before I start I have to say, I’ve
never grown or eaten Mangel Wurzel, but after with a name like Mangel Wurzel, I
couldn’t resist talking about it. Plus it seems like a fun veggie to try and
grow.

Mangel wurzels even feature in
George Orwells novel, Animal Farm’

Also Time Robbins mentions in his
book, Jitterbug Perfume, where the characters us the wurzel as one of the
ingredients of a perfume.

In the northern hemisphere winter,
food was shot for animals, and in the nineteenth century in addition to dry hay
and grain, horses, cows and sheep were often fed pumpkins, cabbage and root
crops like mangel wurzels.

Why don’t you see this veggie in the
shops?

Did you know that if you looked at
any seed catalogue from the 1800’s you not only find this vegetable listed, but
the description would make claims that the root could grow as big as a small
child.

As you’ve guessed it’s a root
vegetable that’s related to beetroot and different varieties have yellow, red
or even cream flesh.

The roots vary in size and shape
too-some are like long radishes and some are short and squat.

Why grow them?

Mangel Wurzel has the highest sugar
content of any vegetable.

Plus the leaves not only look like
siverbeet leaves, can be cooked and eaten like silverbeet.

If you can grow beetroot or
silverbeet you can also grow Mangel wurzel because it needs the same
conditions.

When to Grow

For tropical climates plant in the
dry season,, during autumn winter and spring in the subtropics, and during
spring, summer and autumn absolutely everywhere else.

Yes that means temperate and cool
temperate regions.

Because the mangel wurzel has fallen
out of favour, all those varieties from the 1800 seed catalogues have pretty
much disappeared.

But, you can get seeds from heirloom
seed companies, seed saver networks, and community gardens.

If you can get the yellow or cold
coloured varieties-they apparently taste the sweetest.www.thelostseed.com.au

A Basic Guide for Growing Mangel Wurzel.

If you manage to get your hands on
some seed sow them straight into the ground because like a few root
vegetables-carrots and beets, they don’t like being transplanted.

If you want mini-mangel wurzels
which are supposed to be good for roasting-just space these about 10cm apart.

If you want big mangel wurzels-space
them 25cm apart.

On the upside, mangel wurzels grow
in any type of soil as long as it’s well drained.

The soil pH doesn’t matter much
either as long as it’s not some ridiculously high or low number.

And, you can pick them whenever you
think they’re big enough to eat.

You might be wondering how to tell
when they’re big enough.

That’s easy-like beetroot and
carrots, they push themselves up out of the ground as they get older.

In the mangel wurzels’s case, as
much as one-third of the vegetable pushes itself out of the ground.

From go to whoa takes about 5
months.

If you want a really big mangel
wurzel-be warned it won’t taste nice and be quite woody.

Here’s a tip: when you pull out your
mangel wurzel out of the ground, cut of the leaves as soon as possible, leaving
about 5cm.

The reason you need to cut the
leaves off and harvesting is because if you don’t do this, the root part of the
vegetable will shrivel.

Mangel wurzels don’t have any
problems except if you have bandicoots, possums, rats or mice in your
area.They love mangel wurzels
apparently.

Look out for mangel wurzels at
farmers markets or online When you cut of the top 5cm, you can
replant that bit back into the veggie garden or put it into a jar of water to
sprout some roots.

If you’re cooking mangel wurzels,
the recommended time is 20-30 minutes if whole or less if you cut them up
smaller.

Mangel wurzels are used in cooking
as a potato substitute either boiled, baked, mashed etc; also has an
interesting history of being used during the 18th century to brew beer. By the way, if you want to save seed
of mangel wurzels-they usually only flower in cool temperate districts.

Why is it good for you?

Mangel-wurzels
are low in calories and they also have high sugar content, which can stave the
craving for sugar without putting on kilos.

They’re
high in vitamin C, folic acid and of course carbohydrates-good for energy
stores if you’re low.

Mangel
wurzels have large amounts of Betaine –which is particularly good for cardiovascular health.

And
finally they’re high in fibre.

THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT

DESIGN ELEMENTS

with landscape designer Louise McDaid
Starting a new series-
all about trees – they’re an essential part of a garden’s
structure, adding shade, shelter and privacy to name just a few

Do you have a favourite tree and is
it growing in your garden?

Or is the tree that you really like
something that belongs in a park or nature reserve?

Whatever the case, trees are
essential not only for providing animal habitat, food, shelter and nesting
sites, but provide us with a few amenities as well, like shade, and beauty.

But how fast do they grow? In this day and age we are moving
house more often than we used to, so is it any use planting a tree now when we
might not be around to enjoy it?

Yes is the answer, because there are so many
benefits that you can enjoy while it’s growing (even if you don’t see it to
maturity).

We need to be patient with trees, and generally we’re impatient – we
want things to grow fast – but there are some drawbacks with this.

While fast
growers are good for the impatient, they are usually short lived – take acacias
for example, some may only last around 10 years which is paltry for a tree.

Where would Koalas be without trees? photo M Cannon

Let’s start the ball rolling with
part 1 of the series on trees.

In the words of Dr. Seuss character from his book The Lorax

“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.

I've come here to celebrate Earth Day, so please Come join me and
help spread the message I bring. Be a friend to the trees and to each living
thing.”

Trees provide beautiful flower colour photo M Cannon

Are you aware that as trees grow they absorb carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and lock it away for decades or even centuries?

All the more reason to plant more trees.

PLANT OF THE WEEK

with Karen Smith editor of www.hortjournal.com.auScaevola is a well-known Australian native that really does well in gardens in all states and not just the east coast of Australia flowering from Spring to Autumn, even during the worst heat of summer.Drought tolerant, salt tolerant,
pretty flowers and no real maintenance.

Wouldn’t that be good if most of our
plants were like that?

Never mind, even if we put some
plants of these amongst the ones that aren’t so hardy, we’ll still have a show
of colour and foliage when those others fade away.

With those sort of credentials -let’s
find out about this plant.

That burnt hand story I’ve
discovered was slightly off with the facts.

The latin word scaevola has a link
to a Mucius Scaevola which was a lineage of patricians during the Roman
Republic.

It was an offshoot of the Mucian
family started by Gaius Mucius Scaevola.

This Gaius Scaevola was a legendary
assassin who burnt away his right hand as a show of bravery during the early
years of the Republic. Not saint at all then.

Latin: scaevola, "left-handed.

It grows naturally along the coastline around Nambucca Heads to Coffs Harbour where I’ve seen it on bushwalks.S. albidus grows as far south in coastal areas
of Victoria and Tasmania doing well in any type of soil, including clay soils.

The flowers have a beautiful fan shape in colours of purple, blue or mauve. This petal colour is combined
with a white or more commonly a yellow centre to give a bright eye catching
flower. The flowers grow along the stems and become smaller from the top to the bottom of the plant.

Flowering time is from spring through to the
end of summer these although this flowering time alters according to the length
of summer and the temperatures of the season.

Visited by butterflies and Honey BeesIf you have any questions about
growing Scaevola or fairy fan flower why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com